Bairei hyakucho gafu. Ten Pl.34 by Kono Bairei Size:M - 50 x 70cm Nico Tracey's "Motel" assembles fragments

Nico Tracey's "Motel" assembles fragments of mid-century Americana into a quietly unsettling collage: roadside signage

A butterfly and moth share the composition in expressive organic form

each segment chosen for its relationship to its neighbours rather than any representational purpose

following the taxonomic convention of the era

as a piece of graphic art

Bairei hyakucho gafu. Ten Pl.34 by Kono Bairei Size:M - 50 x 70cm Nico Tracey's "Motel" assembles fragmentsPlate 34 of Bairei's One Hundred Birds series exemplifies the understated mastery of late Meiji kacho e painting. The bird is held in a moment of natural pause neither static nor in motion, but caught in the in between that skilled observation finds. Brushwork describes plumage with minimal strokes, the ink varying in density to suggest volume and light without any theatrics. The surrounding negative space is compositionally active, lending the image